Cadiz Cadiz province - Southern Spain

estupendo

I am new so hope this is in the correct Forum !
I have Spanish Digital TV terrestial which is fine for Spanish news and films with English language.
Am not interested in the full Sky and FreeSat channels. Don't watch much and prefer the radio.

Now on BBC World Service it says that you can receive it using Eutelsat Hot Bird 8 at 13° East.

BBC World Service in English free-to-air, 24 hours a day from Eutelsat Hot Bird 8 at 13° East, transponder 50V, 11727 MHz, Service ID 13907. Hot Bird 8 covers the whole of Europe (including the UK, the Canary Islands, Madeira, the Azores, Iceland, eastern Greenland, Svalbard and Malta).

You should contact a local satellite/TV equipment dealer for information about the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) receiver required for reception from Hot Bird 8. This works in conjunction with a television set, but you can connect the audio output of the set-top receiver box to a Hi-Fi system for better quality sound.


Am now wondering if I need a complicated set up to receive a signal just for AUDIO ? or doesn't it matter.
Also any idea what would work best ?

BIGste

Any cheap satellite box will do along with a dish. Dish size should be at least one metre as you are on the fringe of the signal for hotbird 8 although if it's just for radio you'll get away with 80cm. An old sky box will do the job but is not ideal. You will be better using an independant make so you will get several TV channels. I live in Spain so I know what I'm talking about. Your ideal setup would be
1) Independant satellite reciever (Technomate, Darkbox etc)
2) 1 metra satellite dish (bigger is better but you would not benefit being only on hotbird)
3) Universal LNBf (Spec should be .6 or a lower number)

rolfw

If you are going to go the route of satellite reception for radio, then you may as well put up a 70cm dish or so for reception of all BBC radio channels and BBC News 24 on Astra 28.2 South beam _http://www.lyngsat.com/28east.html 11954 H about two thirds down the page. There are several other free to air TV channels available with this setup.

You will just need a basic digital receiver.

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estupendo

Thank you very much for the answers.
I find it a little strange that BBC World Service advise listeners on how to receive their programmes but fail to mention Astra 2A. Am I missing something ?

They specifically say :

Satellite
Free-to-air from Eutelsat Hot Bird 8at 13° East, transponder 50, vertical polarisation, 11727 MHz, Service ID 13907. Hot Bird 8 services cover the whole of Europe, including the Canary Islands, Madeira and the Azores, Iceland, western Greenland and Malta.

Excuse for my ignorance but I noticed that Astra 2A is at 28 EAST whereas Hotbird is at 13 EAST. So HOTBIRD is nearer to where my dish will be, or is it a question of strength of signal between these two satellites ?
I want to get away with a small dish not an ugly monster !

One other question. If I am receiving Audio radio only does it mean that I could get away with a 'weaker' receiver/dish . Like a small Sky dish ? Or is it a question of trial and error. Would an engineer have the equipment to accurately tell me the difference in Audio signal strength between Astra 2 and Hotbird by visiting my location ?

You can tell that having read BBC World advice on Hotbird and then hearing about Astra makes you begin to ask further questions !

irart

I have no idea why BBC world service fail to mention Astra 2 as a source, but I use it on the Costa Blanca via an old Sky digibox, and can listen to all the BBC radio channels including the world service. I have an 80cm dish, and I would think that would be sufficient in your area too. It will also pull in a selection of British TV channels also. Hotbird has only a very limited choice of English language programmes.

estupendo

Thanks & take your point about limited channels on Hotbird and it seems that I would be better off with Astra 2 A

One of my main considerations is not to have a large satellite dish. Try to use the smallest one possible.
I have seen that on the footprint of Astra 2A as shown on this site, it appears that large dishes are no longer needed.
Looking at the map it seems to me that you don't need any larger dish than you would use in the UK. I am wondering if this Footprint is in fact the correct one ? Has the power of the signal changed ? How does a satellite engineer test for the dish size. Clearly a large dish would be safer but if you can get away with a small one, then why not ?

_http://www.lyngsat-maps.com/maps/astra2a_south.html